Well, 
that didn’t take long.
Sales of Grand Theft Auto V have topped $1 billion a mere three days after the game was released, easily setting a new record for the entertainment industry.
Author Archives: Chris Morris
Using big data to search for Bigfoot
Big 
data have been used for a variety of unusual things, but its latest use might be its most strange yet: The hunt for Sasquatch.
Josh Stevens, a PhD candidate at Penn State University, has compiled 92 years worth of data on Bigfoot, showing where the mythical creature has reportedly been wandering—and how it compares to population growth in North America.
Stop those thieves—they have my bitcoins!
Bitcoin 
may offer a level of freedom that traditional currencies do not, but it’s hardly the most secure form of money.
Just as a pickpocket or mugger can rob you on the street, so a hacker can swipe your virtual money. And it can be much more difficult to recover stolen virtual cash than legal tender.
New ‘Grand Theft Auto’ finds new ways to outrage critics
Is 
a video game that requires torture going too far?
Critics and gamers may love “Grand Theft Auto V,” but, like its predecessors, the game is proving to be a lightning rod for controversy.
Former Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi dies at 85
Hiroshi 
Yamauchi, who transformed Nintendo from a playing card company into a video game powerhouse, has died at the age of 85 from pneumonia.
Yamauchi not only transformed Nintendo, he transformed the entire games industry, rescuing it from the brink of obsolescence in the 1980s. He ran the company for 53 years, overseeing four generations of home consoles — the NES, SNES, N64 and Gamecube — before handing the reins to Satoru Iwata in 2002.
Blizzard shutting down Diablo III auction house
Blizzard 
is eliminating one of the biggest pain points of Diablo III.
The in-game auction house, where players use real money to buy high-level gear and in-game gold, is going away on March 18, 2014.
5 tips for getting started in GTA V
After 
two years of build-up, a couple delays and seemingly endless speculation, Grand Theft Auto V is finally in gamer hands.
The critics have lavished it with praise and early fan feedback is just as adoring, but before you get in too deep, consider these helpful starting tips.
Critics: Top-rated Grand Theft Auto V a “remarkable achievement”
The 
most controversial video game franchise in the world is back – and it’s stealing the hearts of critics all over again.
It’s been five years since Rockstar Games last released a Grand Theft Auto game, so the expectations for Grand Theft Auto V, which stormed retail stores last night to crowded lines of eager gamers, are sky high. The last GTA game set sales records upon its release, and many expect the new game to do the same. It will also earn countless headlines for its mature subject matter — a new round of video game violence chatter will almost certainly erupt — but the real reason why everyone should be excited about GTA V is that it’s an amazing video game.
J.J. Abrams ‘emotionally hurt’ by Star Trek video game
You 
don’t have to look too far past the Metacritic scores to know that this year’s Star Trek game was a disaster. Critics decimated it and gamers largely avoided it, shaking their heads sadly and moving on to the next game, never giving the messy movie tie-in a second thought.
For “Star Trek” movie director J.J. Abrams, though, it’s a little harder to get over.
Mounting HIV cases have porn industry questioning its own trade group
With 
a third Los Angeles-area porn performer confirmed as HIV positive, and reports of a fourth having the virus, the very trade group that is supposed to speak for the industry has increasingly found itself under fire from within adult entertainment.
The Free Speech Coalition, an adult entertainment industry organization, has been the primary source of information to the rest of the world about the infections—and has set, lifted and reset moratoriums on film shooting. But the FSC’s handling of the health care crisis has widened a schism that was already forming within the industry about its effectiveness and the level of support it provides.
Chris Morris: Journalist 